Mobile communication devices, such as cellular phones, have become prevalent in everyday life. The use of such devices for messaging (e.g., text messages (e.g., short message service (SMS), enhanced message service (EMS)), multimedia messages (e.g., multimedia messaging service (MMS)), instant messages, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messages, etc.) is ever increasing. Some users have unlimited messaging plans, whereby such users are allowed to send or receive an unlimited number of messages over a billing period for a specified fee. However, other users have limited messaging plans, whereby such users pay a certain fee for a specified number of messages per billing period and pay an additional fee per message for each message over the specified number of messages. Still other users have no messaging plan, whereby such users pay a specified fee for each message sent or received during the billing period.
A problem that is on the rise in mobile messaging is spamming, wherein a mobile communication device and/or computer send spam messages originating from the address (e.g., Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN)) associated with the mobile communication device (e.g., computer connected to the mobile communication device to cause the mobile communication device to quickly send spam messages; computer that is sending spam mobile messages via the account and/or address associated with the mobile communication device). While spam messages have been ubiquitous in emailing for quite some time, they are now on the rise in mobile messaging as well. Pre-paid mobile communication devices with unlimited messaging plans have made it easier and more cost effective for spammers to use mobile communication devices to send spam mobile messages to other mobile communication devices.
Obviously, undesired messages, such as spam or harassing messages, can be a problem for both the user and the wireless service provider. For instance, if the user has a limited messaging plan or no messaging plan, the user may incur a cost for a message that was not desired to be received by the user on the user's mobile communication device, in addition to the inconvenience of having to receive and process (e.g., delete) the undesired message. Undesired messages consume service providers' network resources, forcing service providers to provide costly additional network capacity and/or driving networks traffic volumes to a level where legitimate use of services is or may be denied. Further, when a user contacts a wireless service provider to complain about charges for undesired mobile messages, such complaint calls can be very costly to the wireless service provider, and time consuming for both the user and the wireless service provider. If the problem is a persistent one, users also may become disenchanted with the wireless service and decide to end their subscription with the wireless service provider.
The issue of spamming in mobile messaging is not limited to users receiving undesired spam messages. Another problem arises when a mobile communication device of a user is infected with a malicious software program that automatically sends a spam message to many other mobile communication devices, often without the user even realizing it is happening, resulting in a large messaging bill being incurred by the user. The user then has to take the time to contact the wireless service provider to rectify the problem with the billing as well as the problem with the infected device.
Conventionally, while there have been attempts to address spam emails in email systems, the problem has largely been left unaddressed in mobile messaging. Users typically have been left with the option of contacting (e.g., calling) the wireless service provider to report the receiving (or sending, when the user's device has been infected with a malicious spam program) of undesired messages to try to obtain a credit for the undesired message. Furthermore, for a variety of reasons, spam defenses employed in email systems generally will not be optimal or desirable in the mobile messaging environment.
Another issue with reporting of mobile messaging abuses is that a user may not accurately report know whether a particular message is undesired but subscribed (e.g., where the user may not even realize that the user is subscribed to a service associated with the subscription-related mobile message), spam, harassing (e.g., from someone who does not like the user), or otherwise abusive.
As a wireless service provider (or user) may desire to take different actions (e.g., block messages, close account of device that is spamming, unsubscribe user from a subscription service, etc.) depending upon the nature of the undesired message(s), there is a need to be able to effectively categorize or classify whether a message is a spam mobile message, a virus, a subscription-related mobile message, or a harassing mobile message.
It is desirable to be able to effectively categorize spam mobile messages and the mobile communication device that originated the spam mobile messages, in contrast to subscription-related mobile messages or harassing mobile messages. Further, it is desirable to be able to respond with (e.g., automatically execute) a desired action appropriate to the category of message and/or originating communication device. Furthermore, it is desirable to reduce the costs (e.g., financial costs, time costs, etc.) associated with spam mobile messages for both the mobile communication device users and wireless service providers.